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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

U.S. Rescue Mission in Iraq Not Needed; Israel Resumes Gaza Airstrikes; Gaza Peace Talks in Jeopardy; Russian Aid Convoy Halted

Aired August 14, 2014 - 04:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, rescue mission in Iraq not needed. U.S. airstrikes managing to free thousands of Iraqis trapped by terrorists. This morning, that good news clouded by the bigger picture. The United Nations declaring a humanitarian crisis.

We are live on the ground in Iraq with the latest.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Chaos in Gaza. Cease-fire extended as Hamas and Israel briefly exchange fire. This morning negotiators working to find some kind of longer lasting peace. But is there any real hope that this violence will stop?

We have live team coverage ahead.

ROMANS: Breaking news this morning, tear gas and gunfire fill the streets of a Missouri town. Demonstrators are angry over the police shooting of an unarmed black teenager. Dramatic, dramatic new video of the night. And what witnesses are now saying about the night Michael Brown was killed. I mean, very tense night on the streets of Missouri again last night.

Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

BERMAN: I'm John Berman. Great to see you this morning. Thirty-one minutes past the hour. We do want to welcome all of our viewers here in the United States and around the world.

ROMANS: Let's (INAUDIBLE) that breaking news out of Missouri this morning.

Another night of violent protest stemming from the shooting of an unarmed teenager. As CNN obtains an exclusive eyewitness account of the events that led to the death of Michael Brown. Overnight chaos on the streets of Ferguson. Protests that started during the day, stretching well into the night. Police using tear gas to break up the crowd. Even a television news crew had to flee from the mayhem. Other journalists were arrested while filing reports from a fast food restaurant. They were detained, then later released by police.

President Obama has been briefed again on the situation. And Missouri governor, Jay Nixon, heading to Ferguson today to try to help restore calm. Meantime, new video, new video has surfaced showing the scene after Brown was shot on Saturday. It shows officers keeping the teenager's family away from his body.

The witness who took the video tells CNN the struggle began at the police car window.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIFFANY MITCHELL, WITNESSED SHOOTING: I didn't know exactly what was going on but I know it did look right for anyone to be wrestling with the police through the police window. But I didn't get the video because a shot was fired through the window so I try to get out of the way. As I pull into the side the kid, he finally gets away. He starts running.

As he runs, the police get out of his vehicle and he follows behind him shooting and the kid body jerked as if he was hit from behind, and he turned around and he puts his hands up like this, and the cop continued to fire until he just dropped down to the ground, and his face just smacks the concrete.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: The police still have not released the name of the officer who shot Brown, saying they are concerned for his safety, following a series of death threats. The start of school in Ferguson has now been pushed back. They're going to start school on Monday in hopes the situation will stabilizes by then.

Of course we're going to keep monitoring the situation and bring you any updates throughout the morning. But another tense night in Ferguson.

BERMAN: We are going to talk now about the life and death struggle on Iraq's Mount Sinjar. A team of U.S. Special Operations on the scene reporting that thousands of trapped Yazidis have escaped the ISIS fighters who had surrounded them for days. That's very good news for these people.

U.S. airstrikes and Kurdish fires successfully beating back the extremists. However, there is still a humanitarian crisis unfolding in that part of Iraq. And President Obama is still said to be considering sending ground troops in to help assist with the humanitarian part of that effort. The White House insists they will not be combat operations they're engaged in. Meanwhile, in Baghdad, embattled Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki still refusing to step down. The rest of that country, though, seems to be moving on without him.

Anna Coren now live from Dohuk in Iraq's Kurdistan.

What's the latest, Anna?

ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, we're at the Bajet Kandela Refugee Camp, very close to the Syrian border where we saw those wave of refugees arrive. They have come here and they are waiting to move into the tents that you can see being set up behind me. When we're here yesterday, there were just a handful. Over the course of the next few days, 1500 tents will be set up. In the meantime, people are erecting makeshift shelter with plastic cardboard, blankets, whatever to get out of this blazing sun. They have been to hell and back, these people, John. They have fled

their homes in Mount Sinjar to -- from Sinjar to the mountain. Many of them witnessing atrocities, seeing their loved ones decapitated in front of them. They have then spent days on top of the mountain without food, without water, without shelter. And thanks to the Peshmerga, those Kurdish forces, they have gained safe passage, able to evacuate the mountain and find themselves here.

But, John, speaking to these refugees, they said they don't want to stay. These Yazidis who've been persecuted for so long say they no longer want to be in Iraq. They don't feel safe. So they are calling on the international community, John, to give them asylum in other countries.

BERMAN: That's a great point, Anna. Whatever siege may have been broken on Mount Sinjar, whatever immediate crisis might have been stemmed by the U.S. bombing and the Kurdish efforts there, there is still this growing humanitarian crisis with these tens of thousands of people who want some way to exist in that country.

Anna Coren at that refugee camp, bringing us such important words and images from there. Appreciate it.

ROMANS: More now on those ISIS fighters waging war in Iraq. That group now using the currency of the Middle East, oil, to fund its reign of terror. It's already the richest terrorist organization in the world. Many estimate it kidnaps, smuggles and extorts and steals oil from seized territories, sells it on the black market.

All told, an estimated $3 million a day in oil sales. $1 million to $3 million a day. Funds also come from wealthy donors, private donors in countries like Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. The U.S. Treasury Department has frozen assets of some Kuwaiti supporters in recent weeks. The so-called fundraisers and marketers for ISIS. But there's this other angle of the story, the oil part of the story. Iraqi traders, black market groups, protection, kidnapping rings, all of this really putting a lot of money into the coffers of ISIS. It is a well-funded terrorist organization.

Let me get a quick check of the markets. European shares are lower right now. Report showing disappointing growth in Germany and in France.

BERMAN: Really disappointing.

ROMANS: Disappointing. Yes. I mean, Germany not growing. France barely growing. And you've got futures lower here as well. So we're watching all of that.

Russian sanctions, watching oil prices, which have not moved too much in the past few weeks. But all watching this in the context of how the ISIS and Iraq stories is unsettling world market.

BERMAN: Well, speaking of unsettled right now, moving on to Gaza, the fighting in Gaza erupts briefly once again. Israel launched a new round of airstrikes and what they're calling terror sites after being targeted by rocket fire overnight.

Now this round of violence flared just moments after negotiators in Cairo agreed to a five-day cease-fire extension. A new cease-fire extension that mostly appears to be holding now.

Let's bring in Martin Savidge live from Gaza City this morning.

Martin, what does it look like today?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, John. Hey, Christine. You know, it doesn't bode well for a cease-fire when it begins with a burst of rocket fire, and then of course retaliatory strikes. And yet that's exactly what we saw happen last night. And there was a report a short while ago of another rocket or mortar possibly coming from Gaza, landing on the Israeli side of the border, although the idea of it now saying they are not aware of that. So it just shows you that things are pretty tense when it comes to this particular cease-fire.

And there's probably a great deal of skepticism as to whether it will last the entire five days. But let's say it does, the good news that appears to be coming out of Egypt, is that the Palestinian delegation says that progress was made and that they are continuing to talk. Israel is continuing to do that as well. They are not there now. All the sides have sort of retreated to their respected negotiating corners. They are expected to get back into Egypt on Sunday. And begin the process again.

But don't fool yourself. There's still some big divides such as Israel wanting Hamas to disarm itself, demilitarize, and then of course you've got Hamas that would like Israel to lift the economic embargo. Those are huge hurdles and not likely to be fixed in just five days. In the meantime, humanitarian aid comes in. Electricity is now said to be at 60 percent of what it was before this conflict began. And 375,000 more people have access to water, and medical and blood supplies have been brought in.

So those are all the positives. But every hour, people here are still on edge, hoping that it will continue. And the same of course would be true on the Israeli side of the border -- John.

BERMAN: Let's see if they can put together a few more hours of this calm.

Martin Savidge in Gaza City, thanks so much.

ROMANS: And Hamas claims that it's not responsible for the rocket fire that triggered the latest round of Israeli airstrikes in Gaza. Whoever did it, the question this morning, can the peace talks in Egypt be salvaged and can the two sides get the cease-fire back on track?

Our coverage of the crisis in Gaza continues with Reza Sayah live from Cairo.

So Hamas says it's not responsible for the rocket attacks. REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No, they denied

responsibility. And in fact there were some nervous moments here late last night in Cairo when the two sides started fighting again. But the good news is, it didn't last that long. It quieted down relatively quickly. And that means, up until now, this cease-fire seems to be holding. And this time, our impression is it feels different. You feel that there's a glimmer of hope that maybe, just maybe these two sides can take these indirect negotiations in the next five days and make something happen, although it's very early to tell.

Let's explain to you how we got here. In the 11th hour last night, the Palestinians and the Israelis announced that they have agreed to extend the cease-fire another five days, another 120 hours. That takes the deadline to Monday.

This announcement was made within minutes, within minutes of the deadline of the previous 72-hour cease-fire, during which these two sides were indirectly negotiating here in Cairo. Of course there was absolutely no sign that the two sides were making progress, but all of a sudden, right before midnight, the head of the Palestinian delegation, Asam al-Ahmed, announced the cease-fire.

And in what was the first clear sign that the two sides had actually made progress in these talks. Ahmad said, when it came to the core demand of the Palestinians, the lifting of the economic blockade on Gaza, they said on some issues, they had reached some sort of agreement. So there's indications that Israel is at least considering easing the blockade, not lifting it, but easing it.

So the two sides are scheduled to come back and start indirectly talking on Sunday. They'll have roughly 24 hours to make something happen.

So, Christine, the talks, technically they are continuing. And that means there's hope that something can happen and the best news, the fighting, has stopped.

ROMANS: All right, Reza Sayah, thank you for that, live for us this morning in Cairo.

All right. Happening now, Russian Ukraine at a standstill after Vladimir Putin's convoy of humanitarian aid. It's turned away. But was it really help that Russia was offering or was this some sort of Trojan horse, some pretext for an invasion?

We are live in Ukraine, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Pope Francis is in South Korea this morning marking the first papal visit to that country in 25 years. He's looking to fuel what has already been a resurgence of Catholic growth in Asia. He was met by a 21-gun salute. He's holding talks today with South Korea's president.

Less than an hour, though, before the Pope's arrival, North Korea fired three short-range projectiles into the sea. Officials in Pyongyang angry about ongoing military drills between the South and the United States.

ROMANS: All right. The latest on a Russian aid convoy that was heading for eastern Ukraine. Hundreds of trucks that Moscow claimed were carrying humanitarian aid stopped before ever reaching the border. The Ukrainian government suspecting this is all a Russian ploy to incite a pro-Russian rebellion.

It's been a bloody two weeks in the region. The death toll doubling since late July to well over 2,000 people now.

Will Ripley tracking the latest developments live from Kiev.

Will, we understand the Russian aid convoy is rolling again. What can you tell us?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's rolling south along the border with Ukraine right now but nobody knows where it's headed and nobody but the Russians knows what is really on those 280 trucks that the Ukrainian government believes are military trucks that were painted white. And that's the problem.

So far despite the request of the red cross and the Ukrainian government and others for a list of the contents of those trucks, Russia has not complied. And now you have this convoy headed basically south along the border. Nobody knows what its destination will be. And the Ukrainian president saying there were really three scenarios they're looking at right now. One, the convoy tries to enter the country illegally, which they would consider an Invasion.

Two it shows at a check point, there's some sort of provocative action which could lead to a confrontation, or three, the solution they're hoping for is that Russia will agree to have all those trucks unloaded, the contents inspected and then the contents put on other trucks under the supervision of the Red Cross driven into those families who are in extreme, desperate need right now for relief, if that is what is on the convoy, Christine.

But nobody knows what's going to happen. This story developing literally right now as the convoy moves along the border.

ROMANS: All right. Certainly an interesting situation that can either be help or provocation. We just don't know yet.

Thanks so much, Will Ripley.

BERMAN: Forty-eight minutes after the hour right now. Historic flooding pummeling the East Coast.

ROMANS: Unbelievable, really.

BERMAN: Here's the thing. It's not over yet. We have some dramatic video after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ROMANS: Unbelievable weather. Extreme weather punishing the northeast. Look at this scene in Providence, Rhode Island. You've got cars submerged. Hundreds of people losing power. The city seeing some of its worst flash flooding in years.

BERMAN: Record-shattering rainfall causing chaos in suburban New York. More than 13 inches of rain falling on Long Island in a day, in 24 hours. That's nuts. Dozens of rescues. Hundreds of vehicles under water. One driver was killed when he lost control of his car on a Long Island Expressway.

ROMANS: In the Washington, D.C. suburbs, roads and crossing bridges washed away by record rains. Prince Georges County, Maryland, hit especially hard. Officials there are still not sure how long it's going to take to get all these streets reopen.

BERMAN: The mystery does not end there. Look at the conditions right now in southern New Jersey, the region slammed by up to nine inches of rain. Strong winds triggered more than 1,000 power outages.

ROMANS: Emergency crews very buds in Springfield, Massachusetts.

BERMAN: Yikes.

ROMANS: Flood waters leaving major roadways impassable. He had four cars trapped at the same time many of the flooded out railroad trouble. Those drivers all pulled to safety by police.

BERMAN: The governor of Michigan declaring three Detroit area counties disaster areas. This was hit so hard. Epic flooding causing extensive damage with several highways still closed two days after the storm hit there.

ROMANS: SeaWorld is struggling. Its stock is plunging. Attendance falling. What in the world happened? Is CNN to blame? An EARLY START on your money, next.

BERMAN: They always blame you. Not CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Time for an EARLY START on your money this morning. European shares are mostly lower right now. The German economy shrank in the second quarter. The French economy did not grow at all.

You know, you can blame the effects of Russian sanctions for some of that. As European businesses had to take to make investments with so much uncertainty. The eurozone growth figures -- the entire eurozone, that news expected to come out in just a few minutes. Asian shares ended the day mixed. U.S. futures -- U.S. stock futures pointing lower.

SeaWorld stocks all wet. Shares are down 33 percent right now in premarket trading. Think of that. A third of the value wiped out in pre-market trading. The amusement park reported weak earnings and weaker attendance for the years especially its flagship parks in San Diego and Orlando. The company blames Harry Potter saying the attraction at Universal Studios was luring visitors away.

Also bad publicity also played a role with CNN's documentary "BLACKFISH," exposing dangers of keeping orcas at theme parks.

Happy employees make happy investors. New research finds the companies ranked as one of the 100 best companies to work for also happened to be the best companies to invest in. Those companies typically beat their peers in the stock market by 2 percent to 3 percent a year.

Look at that. Look at that. Some companies even do better when you think about it. Take Google's fortune, its stock up more than 30 percent last year, compare that to a 15 percent return for the S&P 500.

And I've been saying, bosses, be good to your peeps because shareholders will be good to you.

BERMAN: Bosses, be good to your peeps. Smart is the new rich.

Christine Romans, the new book coming out sometime soon. So (INAUDIBLE) to do that.

For our viewers around the world, "CNN NEWSROOM" is next. For our viewers here in the United States EARLY START continues right now.

ROMANS: Happening now, emergency in Iraq. The U.N. declaring a humanitarian crisis as terrorists take over towns. But this morning, some good news. U.S. airstrikes helping thousands of stranded Iraqis escape the terrifying militants. A rescue mission now unlikely.

We're live with what U.S. troops on the ground are saying.

BERMAN: Chaos in Gaza. A new cease-fire between Hamas and Israel announced after a brief round of attacks. Right now silence has again filled the air. But for how long? And is there really hope for a longer lasting peace?

We have live, team coverage ahead.

ROMANS: Breaking news overnight. Tear gas, Molotov cocktails, gunfire filling the streets of a Missouri town. Protesters furious over the police shooting of an unarmed black teenager. This morning dramatic video of the chaos. As a woman who says she saw police shoot and kill Michael Brown shares her story.

BERMAN: We want you to listen carefully to what she says. A long, long night there and we need facts in this case.

Good morning. Welcome to EARLY START, I'm John Berman.

ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans. It is Thursday, it is August 14th, 5:00 a.m. in the East.